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- Dictionaryeffete/ɪˈfiːt/
adjective
- 1. affected and overly refined: "effete trendies from art college" Similar Opposite
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Effete derives from Latin effetus, meaning "no longer fruitful," and for a brief time in English it was used to describe an animal no longer capable of producing offspring. For most of its existence in English, however, the use of "effete" has been entirely figurative.
EFFETE definition: 1. weak and without much power: 2. more typical of a woman than of a man 3. weak and without much…. Learn more.
Effete is a disapproving term meaning decadent and self-indulgent, even useless. The stereotype of the rugged Westerner is just as false as the one of the effete East Coast liberal. The origin of the word effete is a little unexpected.
Effete definition: lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent. See examples of EFFETE used in a sentence.
1. weak, ineffectual, or decadent as a result of overrefinement: an effete academic. 2. exhausted of vitality or strength; worn out; spent. 3. (Biology) (of animals or plants) no longer capable of reproduction. [C17: from Latin effētus having produced young, hence, exhausted by bearing, from fētus having brought forth; see fetus] efˈfetely adv.
If you describe someone as effete, you are criticizing them for being weak and powerless. [ formal , disapproval ] ...the charming but effete Russian gentry of the 1840s and 1850s.
adjective. /ɪˈfiːt/ (disapproving) (of a person) with manners and interests that other people consider silly, unimportant and not sincere. They despised us as effete art students. Want to learn more?
